DuBois School Board meeting wrap up by Glenn Schuckers

Before the Board opened its agenda for the regular meeting, directors met the two student representatives who attended the meeting on line. Returning for a second year, Senior Annie Wingard and new representative Astacio Deemer brought the Board up to date on events at the high school.

Following that, Superintendent Wendy Benton and Athletic Director Chuck Fera outlined the newest “Health and Safety Plan” for activities and sports.  Benton has stressed since school opened that the schools want  spectators, especially parents, to be able to watch their sons and daughters perform and compete but for some time it looked as though that mighty not be possible.

With new guidelines from the CDC and state, the District has been able to come up with a new plan that will allow spectators to come to events. The new plan states all participants at varsity and junior varsity football games will get four tickets for those events. Those attending the games will be asked to observe distancing guidelines and wear masks as stated by the CDC.

The same guidelines will apply to volleyball games and to basketball when the season starts . Visiting teams will get two tickets per participant and when DuBois is a visiting team the same will apply them. These rules are in line with the District IX rules and will continue as long as the current virus status remains stable. All students participating in games will be checked for virus symptoms and schools, including DuBois will have to certify that students have been checked,

Later in the meeting the plan was brought to a vote and all directors except Dave Schwab voted in favor of it. In the past Schwab had expressed the opinion that the school might be moving a little too fast in light of a resurgence of the virus in some areas.

People attending the events will be asked to use marked gates and there will be no concession stands in operation to help prevent crowd gatherings.

In regard to other CDC guidelines, director Sam Armagost has suggested that parents should be aware that as the weather turns colder students in all grades should be wearing clothes that are appropriate to the cooler weather. All schools are  required to ventilate with 50% outside air before opening in the morning  which means that for a period of time rooms in the schools will be considerably colder than normal. Once the heating systems are activated the rooms will get warmer but for a period of time rooms will be colder.

The Board also approved a resolution to authorize the board secretary to advertise a Public Hearing on Thursday, October 15 at 6 P.M. for the purpose of reviewing the construction and equipping of the proposed  additions and renovations  at the Oklahoma Elementary School. The maximum project cost for that project is $13,820, 6516. All members voted to move forward with the hearing.

The Board also approved the retirement of Randy Schmidt as Director of Transportation. Schmidt has held that position for thirteen years, but members voted to defer naming Andrew Edinger to fill that position.  Edinger currently serves as Assistant Athletic Director, and the Board also deferred approving his resignation from that position.

Before the meeting adjourned, Armagost said he wanted to thank all the administration, faculty, staff, students and community for working together to move the schools forward. He said he knows it has involved extra work and effort to get to where the schools are and he appreciated all the extra effort.

Benton said that having a student test positive at the high school had caused some concern but that all students will be back in school following the quarantine. She added that it has also caused discussion on reopening the elementary schools on a full time basis  to be put on hold for the time being.  That topic will be the subject of  a special Board meeting on Monday, October 5. She also noted she feels it is important for all adults to set an example by “being kind” to each other during this time.